Water heatek



AAGAS M :NSS

Feb., 27, w23.

W. F. STEWART WATER. HEATER Filed Dec.

Patented Felle. 2l?, i923.

STAFEZS TILLIAIM l". STE'VVART, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR, BYMESNE ASSGNl/IENTS,

TO .AMERICAN HEATER CORFORATON, A CORPORATION' OF. EELAEVARE.

"WATER HEATER.

l' i ,Application filed December 3l, 1917. Serial No. 209,608.

To all?. uf ,7m/1t t may concern Be it known that l., VVILLiAul F.STEWART, a citizen of the United States, and a resident or' the city otSt. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in TWater Heaters, 01"' which the :following is aspecification.

My invention relates to hot water heaters ot the kind commonly referredto as instantaneous heaters. `In heaters ot' this type, the How of gasto the burners is commonly controlled by a thermostat and such heatersare subject to certain disadvantages which it is the object of thepresentinvention to avoid. Most ot' these disadvantages are occasionedby the fact that the shutting off and the opening up of the gas supplyby thermostatic action are quite gradual. In'the lirst place, gradualshutting olf of the gas supply disturbs the proper proportioninff of thegas and air in the mixing chamber or the burner and thus tends to createa condition liable to cause back-fire. Again, under conditions of -fullpressure, the mixed gas and air are projected from the burner opening soas to ignite at a distance from the burner, whereas, under lowerpressure, the ignition occurs close to the burner and tends to undulyheat the burner and thereby create a condition favorable to back-tireand to the rapid deterioration o1c the burner. An even more importantpractical disadvantage is the fact that the closing and the openingaction of the thermostat are so gradual that the tem.- perature of thewater has a very wide range, whereas it is desirable to maintain atemperature of the delivered water as nearly uniform as practicable.Another common disadvantage of instantaneous water heaters ot the typenow in use is that it is difficult to adjust them for use under widelyvarying conditions ot press-ure in the fuel supply and in the watersupply.

The principal objects of the present invention are te overcome thedisadvantages hereinbeore mentioned. The invention consists principallyin making the valve action quickly responsive to variations in thethermostatic controller; it also consists in making the fuel supplyvalve open and close by a single quick stroke as distinguished from thegradual opening and closing hereinbefore mentioned; it also consists inmeans Jfor adjusting and co-ordinating the valves to lit the device forwidely different conci- Fig. 3 is a detail view illustrating theconnection of the thermostat with the water valve actuating lever, beingpartly in elevation and partly in section on the line 3-3 of 'Fig 2; lFig. t is a horizontal sectional detail'on the line 4 4 of Fig. l,showing the mounting of the water valve actuating lever;

Fig. 5 is a detail oi the connection between the main water valve stemand lever thatV actuates same, the valve stein being in section on theline 5-5 of Fig. l; and Fig. (i is a detail view of the lost-motiondevice.

The present apparatus comprises the usual elements of a water heater ofthe so-called instantaneous type, such, for instance, as that shown inPatent No. 1,028,146 granted to me June 1l, 1912,; that is to say, itcomprises a gas or vapor burner, a water heater coil arranged inoperative relation to the.

burner,and an inclosing shell or casing 1, together with a novelorganization ol thermostatically actuated valves lor controlling the gasand water supply. In the water supplypipe 2 leading to the coil is themainV water supply valve 3, which. is controlled thermostatically ashereinafter described. This main water supply valve 3 has a hollowcylindrical casing' with an inlet opening l at its side and an annulargroove 5 in its wall opposite said opening. The main delivery port 6 isat one end of the rylindrical valve casing' andtliis port is ot lessdialneter than the normal diameter ot' the casing. Inside oiA the casingis an un'ibrella shaped valve 7 adapted to seat against the edge of thedelivery port 6 and thereby seal the same and having a depending annularmarginal portion 8 whose outer surface lits the valve casing below thekannulaigroove therein.

The lowermargin of: the valve .is notched in such manner that when theend of the valve is seated against the edge of the main delivery port 6,the inlet port communicates Y through said notches with thelower portionof the valve casing. The valve is normally held'against its seat bymeans eta helical spring 9 bearing against the under side thereof andagainst the screw-threaded head 10 of the valve casing. This valve isprovided with an elongated stemll which eX- tends through the vhead ofthe casing and is v"operatively Vconnected to 'the thermostaticapparatus hereinafter described so as to be actuated thereby.

Alongside ot the casing oi the main Awater valve 3 and pieter-ably madeintegral withy said casing is a cylinder 12 which has ports and 14 atits upper and lower ends which communicate with thev upper and lowerends of the valve casing respectively. Inside of said cylinder isapiston -15 whose middle portion 16'is extended beyond the bearingsurface of the Vpiston Vtar enough to bear against the end of thecylinder and thereby limit the movement of the piston so that it willnot close Vthe communication between it and the lower end or' the valvechamber. The upper surface ol the .piston opposite thisproiection isconcaved or hol- 'lowed out to'l'orm a chamber 17 which coininalterYreferred to as the relief valve, is

normally held in closed position by means of the helical spring- 22d,which bears against it and against the nut 19 provided-therefor on thestem, the said nut being adjustable for the purpose of varying thepressure of the spring against said valve. rlhe upper surface of thepiston 15 isv also provided with concentrically disposed lugs whichserve as 'positioning members for the helical spring 23 which bears atone end against the piston and at the other' end against thc threadedhead 24 of the cylinder. i

The operation of the valve mechanism above described is as follows:Assuming that the main water valve is closed, the

water from the inlet port et enters the lower portion of the valvecasing through the notches in the side of the valve and thence passesinlto the lower end ot the cylinder 12 underneath the piston 15, causingthe piston to be moved upwardly against the pressure 'of 'the helicalspring 23 until the Ypipe 25 is provided with a valve case 26 whichcontains a valve seat with which coV release end oli. the piston stem 1Scomes in contact with the head 2l of the cylinder. This lifting of thepiston 15 actuates the gas valve as hereinafter desi'ribed but does notet itself cause any movement oli-,the main water valve 7. lVhen thethermostat pulls sninc' 9 a direct assage is oiened 'from `the inletport of the valve casing to the -outlet port and a su ply of water liowsthrough the heater. Vhile this condition continues, waterpasses `fromthe outlet end ol"- the valve chamber vto the upper part ot the cylinderand co-operates with the helical spring "23 in tending to force thelpiston downwardly against the upward pressure the main water valve 7down against its f ot' the water on the under side of the piston.

lll hen the thermostat causes the closing ot vthe main water valve, lthepressure on the upper part of the piston is relieved andthe water fromthe supply pipe again passes throughl the notches in the valve into thevalve casing and thence into the lower'end of the cylinder and againlifts ythe piston. This up-and-down movement ot the piston istransmitted Vto the gas valve as 'hereinafter described. Y

As illustrated in Fig. `l, the gas supply operates a lvalve 27. Thisvalve is provided with a'helical spring 2S which lbears at one endagainst the valve and at the other end against the threaded -capY 29l4oijthe valve casing. This valve is also provided with a valve stemwhich ente-ndsv through said head and is -adjustably connected to thevpiston. rod 31 ot the piston 15.. A suitable connection between the'valve stem or rod 30 of the gas valve 27 and the piston rod" 31 isillustratedin Fig. 1. As there illustrated, the two rods 250 and`31 aredisposed in axial alinement. The meeting ends of the two Yrods arescrew-threaded. ing on the threaded end of the rod 30 of rthe gas val-veis a turnhuckle 32 which is held in adjusted position `by means ot alocking nut 32u. The piston, rod 3,1 .ev` tends through a hole providedtherefor in the :other end of the turnbuckle and slides freely therein.`The .screw threaded end` porti-on of this pistonrod 31 is-provided witha set nut 33 and a lock nut-'321v therefor :inside ot the yturnlmclrle.-This contrivance yconstnzutes an adpistable vlost motion connectionbetween the two rods whereby 'the piston is enabled to move apredetermined distance (which may be varied as desired) withoutaffecting the gas valve and whereby the 'further movement of "the pistonis transmitted to the gas valve.

Any suitablethermostatic device forcentrolling the water supply may :beused; 'but the constructionillustrated is especially advantageous. InVthis connection, the main Work` 0 Cil water supply valve and the gasvalve are mounted onV a casting which has an eX- tending bracket 36 uponwhich is mounted the lever 37 that is actuated bythe thermostaticelement and itself actuates the main water supply valve. lThis lever hasa bifurcated cud 38 which straddles the extending stem ll of the mainwater supply valve 7 and has the biturcated portions rounded to restupon a nut or washer 39 movably mounted on the lower end of the valvestem. ',lhe other end of this lever is provided with a knii'e edge 40which works in notches co-nstituting` bearings therefor in the bracketof said casting. Close to its fulorum, the lever has a verticallythreaded hole there through in which works a threaded plug 4l which isprovided with a set nut for holding` it in adjutsed position. The upperend oi this plug proj ects slightly above the lever and is rounded offto co-operate with a. rounded stud 42 provided therefor at the lower end01"' a brass or copper tube 43 forming` part of the water delivery pipesystem. This copper or brass tube is supported at it sup-per end in abracket, which in turn is supported by means of two vertical rods 44that are mounted on the bracket forming part ot the support of the watersupply valve and the gas valve. By this arrangement, the water deliveredfrom the heater will cause the copper or brass tube to vary in lengthaccording to the variations of the temperature of the water. The partsare so adjustable that when the water is cold and the main water supplyvalve is closed, the stud 42 on `the thermostatic tube does not pressagainst the plug on the lever, although, if desired, it may be incontact therewith. As the temperature of the water delivered from theheater increases, the thermostatic tube elongates and transmits pressureagainstl `the lever 37 so as to open the main supply valve and therebyadmit water to the upper end of the cylinder l2 and cause the pistontherein to move downwardly to close the gas supply valve Q6. leaving thevalve open tor the inlet of water to the heater. The effect of openingthe water supply to the heater and of cutting ott the supply of gas isto cool the thermostatic tube, which shortens and allows the spring ofthe main water supply valve `to close and shut oli" the supply of waterto the heater and admit water to the under side oi the cylinder to liitthe piston and thereby open the gas supply valve. This operation isrepeated intermittently at such short intervals that the temperaturechanges or' theheated Water are inconsiderable.

I claim:

l. In a water heating system, a Water supply valve irresponsive tovariations of Water pressure, a gas supply valve, a thermostat inoperative relation to the water supply valve to operate the same, andmeans for actuating the gas supply valve, said means con'iprising acylinder, a piston therein and a rod operatively connecting said pistonto said gas supply valve, said water supply valve comprising a casinghaving a permanently open inlet, a main outlet and a secondary outletarranged to be opened and closed alternately by said main valve, andopenings in said casing communicating with said outlets and therespective ends of said cylinder. i

2. In a water heating system, a water supply valve irresponsive tovariations of Water pressure, a gas supply valve, a thermostat inoperative relation to the water supply valve to opera-te the same, andmeans for actuating the gas supply valve, said means comprising acylinder, a piston therein, and a rod operatively connecting said pistonto said gas valve, said Water supply valve comprising a casing having apermanently open inlet, a main outlet and a secondary outlet arranged tobe opened and closed alternately by said main valve, and openings insaid casing communicating with said. outlets and the respective ends ofsaid cylinder, and said rod comprising sections joined by a lost-motiondevice.

3. In a water heating system, a water supply valve irresponsive tovariations of water pressure, a gas supply valve, a thermostat inoperative relation to the water supply valve to operate the same, andmeans for actuating the gas supply valve, said means comprising acylinder, a piston therein, and a rod operatively connecting said pistonto said gas valve, said water supply valve comprising a casing having apermanently open inlet, a main outlet adapted to be closed by said valveand passagevvays communicating with the respective ends of said cylinderand adapted to be opened and closed to the water supply alternately bysaid main valve, and said rod comprising sections joined by anadjustable lost-motion device.

4. In a Water heating system, a water supply valve irresponsive tovariations of water pressure, a gas supply valve, a thermostat inoperative relation to the water supply valve to operate the same, andmeans for actuating the gas supply valve, said means comprising acylinder, a piston therein having a passageway therethrough and a springpressed valve for said passageway, and a rod operatively connecting saidpiston to said gas valve, said water supply valve comprising a casinghaving a permanently open inlet, a main outlet adapted to be closed bysaid valve and passageways communicating with the respective ends ofsaid cylinder and adapted to be opened and closed to the water supplyalternately by said main valve.

5. In a water heating system, a water suplll@ ,ply valve, a` ges supplyvalve,7 nie-(nis conm trolled by the witter supp-ly valve :tor actuatingthe ges supply velve, seid 4means coinprisin;-;` zi` piston adapted tobe actuated by the wateig a rodconnected to seid piston and a rodconnected to said gus supply valve, seid rods beineeonnectedby n-mlijustnble lost-motion device, ande thermostat mechenism constitutinggthe yexclusive ineens forV G. In. e water heating systein, u, .water supply valve, :i gas supply .-valvc, ineens con trolled by thowater supplyvalve forl :letuating thefgus Supply valve, seid means coinprising episton adapted Ito be actuated by the water, e. rodconnectedl to seidpiston and e rod; connected to said gas supply valve,

'said rods being` .connected by en adjustable lost-motiondevice, uthermostat constituting the exclusive means Jfor opening the Watersupply valve, seid-thermostat comprising mi expensible tube in the Waterkdelivery pipe, :Liever operatively connected to said expanvsible tubeto be actuated thereby und o mechanically operatively connected.I toseid water supplyvalveto actuete it, and e ineinyber edjjustebly mountedvon seid lever and constituting part of its operative connection withsaid tube. v

Signed et St.V Louis7 lQ/issouri, this 27th dey-ef December,V 19117. fVV'ILLIAh/l F. STEART.

